Battle for Joey's apartment part 1

The ride back to Joey’s apartment somehow felt both safer and infinitely more dangerous.

Safer because they weren’t alone anymore.

More dangerous because Joey had now witnessed firsthand what counted as “backup” in Cassandra’s world.

Which apparently included:

One emotionally unavailable werewolf hunter.

One ex-mortician built like a tank.

One magical internet cryptid.

And Greta.

Who Joey was becoming increasingly convinced might actually be some kind of ancient Norse war demon pretending to own a supernatural pawn shop.

Crystal sat wedged between Joey and Cassandra in the backseat of Malcolm’s massive SUV while Valerie drove like traffic laws had personally insulted her family lineage.

“You know,” Crystal said while gripping the overhead handle for dear life, “if we survive tonight I’m reporting all of you to somebody.”

“You can’t report supernatural crime to regular police,” Elias replied from the front passenger seat while typing rapidly on a glowing tablet.

Crystal leaned forward.

“No, I mean for the driving.”

Valerie took a corner hard enough that Joey physically slid sideways into Cassandra.

“Speed limits are suggestions,” Valerie said calmly.

“They are NOT.”

“They are if you’re armed.”

“That feels legally incorrect.”

Malcolm’s deep voice rumbled from the SUV behind them through the radio.

“Eyes up.”

Immediately the mood changed.

Valerie straightened slightly.

Elias stopped typing.

Cassandra’s hand found Joey’s thigh instantly.

Not affection.

Readiness.

Joey felt it through the bond like static electricity.

Danger nearby.

“What?” Joey asked quietly.

Elias tapped his tablet twice.

“Someone’s been circling your apartment block for the last twenty minutes.”

Crystal went pale immediately.

“You can TRACK that?”

Elias looked confused.

“…Yes?”

“That is horrifying.”

“Thank you.”

The technomancer adjusted his glasses.

“Three vehicles. Two parked. One moving slowly around the block every six minutes.”

“Hunting pattern,” Valerie muttered.

Cassandra nodded once.

“They’re waiting for us to return.”

Joey looked toward the window as city lights slid across the glass.

Then he noticed something.

“You knew they’d attack tonight.”

Greta’s crew exchanged looks.

Finally Malcolm answered calmly.

“Hunters don’t back off after probing defenses.”

Valerie smirked darkly.

“They come back angry.”

Crystal looked horrified again.

“You guys are talking about this like it’s football strategy.”

“It basically is,” Valerie answered.

“Except football has fewer decapitations,” Elias added.

Joey was learning that Elias saying horrifying things in the tone of someone discussing printer maintenance was somehow worse.

The SUV turned down Joey’s street.

Immediately Cassandra stiffened beside him.

Joey felt it through the bond again.

Wrong.

The apartment complex looked normal at first glance.

Too normal.

No lights in windows.

No movement.

No random late-night neighbors smoking outside.

Nothing.

Valerie slowed the SUV.

“Yeah,” she muttered. “That’s bait.”

Crystal whispered:

“Oh, I hate this so much.”

Malcolm’s voice crackled through the radio again.

“Second floor rooftop. Left side.”

Joey squinted upward.

Nothing.

Then—

a faint metallic reflection.

A scope.

“Sniper,” Cassandra said instantly.

And suddenly everything exploded into motion.

Valerie jerked the wheel hard as a deafening gunshot cracked through the night.

The windshield shattered.

Crystal screamed.

Joey ducked instinctively while Cassandra physically shoved him down into the seat hard enough to knock the air out of him.

Another shot rang out.

This one hit Malcolm’s SUV behind them.

The massive vehicle swerved violently before correcting.

“CONTACT!” Valerie barked.

Elias slammed one glowing device against the dashboard.

Instantly blue symbols flashed across the SUV windows.

A third sniper shot hit the passenger-side glass—

and bounced away.

Crystal stared.

“…Did we just get magic bulletproof windows?!”

“Temporarily!” Elias yelled back.

“WHY IS THAT A WORD YOU HAD READY?!”

Outside, shadows moved across rooftops.

More hunters.

Joey counted at least four shapes moving between buildings.

Too coordinated.

Too prepared.

Valerie grinned suddenly.

“Oh good,” she said, reaching under her seat.

Then she pulled out a short-barreled shotgun.

“I was worried tonight might be boring.”

“You are a deeply concerning person,” Joey muttered.

“Correct.”

Cassandra’s eyes glowed faintly red now.

The calm seductive vampire act was gone.

This was the predator underneath.

Cold.

Focused.

Ancient.

“Joey,” she said quietly.

He looked at her immediately.

“No matter what happens next—you stay inside the protection lines once we reach the apartment.”

Joey frowned.

“You’re saying that like things are about to get really bad.”

Another gunshot screamed past outside.

Malcolm’s SUV suddenly rammed one of the parked cars hard enough to shove it halfway onto the curb.

A hunter hidden behind it went flying.

Crystal made a noise somewhere between a gasp and a prayer.

Then Malcolm himself stepped out of the SUV.

And Joey finally understood why Greta described him the way she had.

The giant man walked directly into gunfire.

Silver rounds slammed into his coat.

He barely slowed down.

Then Malcolm swung the war hammer once.

The parked car flipped onto its side.

Joey’s jaw dropped.

“…Holy shit.”

“Ah,” Cassandra said softly beside him. “The crew is warming up.”

Valerie laughed like a complete maniac and slammed the accelerator.

The SUV barreled toward the apartment building entrance while hunters scattered across the parking lot.

One of them raised a crossbow—

and Cassandra vanished.

Darkness folded around her like liquid smoke.

One second she sat beside Joey.

The next—

she erupted from a shadow directly behind the hunter.

Crystal shrieked:

“THAT IS SO UNFAIR!”

The hunter barely had time to turn before Cassandra slammed him face-first into the concrete hard enough to crack it.

Valerie hit the brakes hard.

“We’re here!”

Joey stumbled out of the SUV with Crystal while Elias rapidly unpacked glowing devices from his backpack.

“What are those?” Joey asked.

“Proximity mines.”

“…Magic proximity mines?”

“Obviously.”

“That word should not exist together!”

Behind them another gunshot rang out.

Then Valerie answered with her shotgun.

The blast lit the parking lot blue.

Not fire.

Runes.

The hunter she hit literally exploded backward through a parked fence.

Crystal grabbed Joey’s arm tightly.

“…We’re gonna die.”

Joey looked toward Cassandra standing in the middle of the parking lot surrounded by shadows and blood.

Then toward Malcolm crushing through attackers like a horror movie villain.

Then Valerie reloading while laughing.

Then Elias wiring glowing symbols onto apartment walls like a caffeinated wizard engineer.

And somehow—

despite everything—

Joey felt the fear start turning into something else.

Resolve.

“They picked the wrong apartment complex,” he said quietly.

Cassandra heard him.

Even across the parking lot.

And for one brief second—

through the chaos—

she smiled.